Mobile electronic devices are now commonly used for multiple computing functions in addition to telecommunications. Mobile devices such as cell phones, “smart” phones, personal data assistants (PDA's) and the like are equipped for accessing and storing all types of media, including movies, music, software applications, as well as copious amounts of associated data. As mobile devices are increasingly integrated into the daily life of the typical user, the loss of the device due to misappropriation, or any other type of unintentional loss can cause a great deal of inconvenience, loss of time and productivity, and at times cause the permanent loss of irreplaceable data such as photographs, notes, and the like. Some mobile device users possess a limited level of technical savvy, and therefore prefer or require a simple, easy to use interface in which data can be archived and restored in a few simple steps. Other technically sophisticated users desire precise control over what data is archived, where the data is archived, and how often backups should be scheduled. Additionally, when mobile electronic devices are replaced, they are often replaced with a different model, which may run a dissimilar operating system from the device being replaced. Accordingly, a need exists for methods, apparatuses and computer program products that assist mobile device users in archiving data, configuring the data, and restoring the data to a new mobile device running the same or different operating system.
Storage media has transcended the magnetic disks of the past and now includes numerous methods of secondary storage, such as internal hard disks on a personal computer, SD cards, external disk drives, remote computer storage and cloud storage using the internet or other networks. The data storage capacity of mobile devices increases with every iteration of new products. A need is therefore created for data archiving that can accommodate the large volumes of data, and archiving that provides flexible use of a variety of media.